South Africa’s off-trade liquor market – comprising formal retail channels such as grocery liquor stores, liquor wholesalers and hypers – exceeded R100bn in sales in 2024, according to the newly released Liquor Retailing Report from Trade Intelligence.
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According to the report, retailers are continuing to expand aggressively in the liquor space, and shopper behaviour is evolving alongside shifting channel dynamics.
Retailers accelerate liquor expansion
Looking at South Africa’s listed corporate grocery retailers – the Shoprite Group, Pick n Pay, Boxer and SPAR – standalone liquor store footprint has grown by +31% over the past five years, nearly double the rate of grocery store expansion.
The Shoprite Group has overtaken Tops at Spar in total liquor store footprint, operating 925 outlets across Shoprite and Checkers LiquorShop and Ok Liquors banners, with Tops at Spar operating 914 stores.
Format performance highlights evolving roles
While grocery liquor continues to expand, a full five years after the pandemic, on-trade liquor turnover still remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Although tavern sales showed growth, bars and restaurants remain slower to recover.
Within the off-trade market, grocery liquor sub-channel growth outpaced liquor hypers and wholesalers' growth.
“Liquor is still predominantly bought in-store, but it’s a mission-driven category,” says Nicola Allen, senior retail analyst at Trade Intelligence and lead analyst of the report.
“Shoppers could be doing anything from stocking up for an event to grabbing a bottle for later to looking for the best possible price, and this drives their behaviour and choices in terms of channel and priorities, i.e. price sensitivity.”
The report identifies several common and/or high-frequency missions that define liquor shopping. Each mission is associated with specific formats and banners, based on value, urgency, and occasion type.
Shopper behaviour remains in-store, but new behaviours are emerging
Across liquor categories, the vast majority of shoppers continue to purchase in physical stores, i.e. over 90% of shoppers across each of the spirits, wine, beer and cider/RTD categories.
This confirms that liquor still plays out on the shelf, even as digital grows, reinforcing why channel-specific retail strategy matters.
At the same time, 46% of 18- to 24-year-old cider/RTD shoppers also regularly buy via delivery apps and are more likely to engage across multiple platforms before purchase.
Across all categories, shopper missions such as stocking up for an occasion, grabbing something for later, and hunting down a special remain common, and frequently influence channel and format choice.
Understanding format roles and shopper missions is key to future planning
Trade Intelligence notes that understanding the liquor retail channel requires close attention to its sub-channel dynamics and shopper missions. Grocery liquor, liquor hypers and wholesalers each play distinct roles in meeting shopper needs, and recovery in on-trade remains slow and uneven across sub-channels.
As shopper behaviour diversifies, format roles evolve, and store expansion continues, the importance of clear channel strategies is coming into sharper focus for liquor suppliers and retailers alike.
